Description: Near the end of the Red River Expedition, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel
P. Banks’s army evacuated Grand Ecore and retreated to Alexandria, pursued
by Confederate forces. Banks’s advance party, commanded by Brig. Gen. William
H. Emory, encountered Brig. Gen. Hamilton P. Bee’s cavalry division near
Monett’s Ferry (Cane River Crossing) on the morning of April 23. Bee had
been ordered to dispute Emory’s crossing, and he placed his men so that
natural features covered both his flanks. Reluctant to assault the Rebels
in their strong position, Emory demonstrated in front of the Confederate
lines, while two brigades went in search of another crossing. One brigade
found a ford, crossed, and attacked the Rebels in their flank. Bee had
to retreat. Banks’s men laid pontoon bridges and, by the next day, had
all crossed the river. The Confederates at Monett’s Ferry missed an opportunity
to destroy or capture Banks’s army.